A Business Continuity Plan (BCP) is a tool an organization uses to prepare for possible incidents that could jeopardize the organization's core mission and its long-term health. Incidents include internal events such as building fires or infectious diseases and regional incidents such as blackouts, or national incidents such as pandemic illnesses.

This Business Continuity Plan has been developed to:

Assist the University community in its preparation for a pandemic or other emergency.

Mitigate the impact of a crisis on the University's ability to carry out its core functions.

Provide a communication process for a short-term business interruption such as an infectious disease that may affect staff levels but may also affect anyone within the McMaster community.

Provide departments with a workbook including clear guidance on how to proceed in the event of an incident that may have a long-term effect on the department.

The overall goal of business continuity planning is to prepare for operational requirements in the event of a major occurrence, with interrupts service levels. Appropriate planning can reduce the impact on student learning and the level of operational disruption.